Berlin Crisis of 1961

Berlin Crisis of 1961
Part of the Cold War
U.S. M48 tanks face Soviet T-55 tanks at Checkpoint Charlie, October 1961.
Date 4 June – 9 November 1961 Location Checkpoint Charlie Result Stalemate Erection of the Berlin Wall on 12–13 August 1961
Belligerents
Soviet Union East Germany Supported by: Warsaw Pact (except Albania)	United States West Germany Supported by: NATO
Commanders and leaders
Nikita Khrushchev Walter Ulbricht	John F. Kennedy Konrad Adenauer

The Berlin Crisis of 1961 (German: Berlin-Krise) was the last major European political and military incident of the Cold War concerning the status of the German capital city, Berlin, and of post–World War II Germany. The crisis culminated in the city's de facto partition with the East German erection of the Berlin Wall.

The Berlin Crisis of 1961 was the second attempt by Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to change the status of Berlin by demanding the withdrawal of all armed forces from the city and stopping the mass exodus of East Germans fleeing to the West. After the failure of his first ultimatum in 1958, Khrushchev renewed his demands at the 1961 Vienna summit, this time challenging the newly inaugurated U.S. President John F. Kennedy.

When talks broke down and no agreement was reached, in August 1961 East German leader Walter Ulbricht, with Khrushchev’s backing, ordered the closing of the border and the construction of a wall surrounding West Berlin. A brief stand-off between American and Soviet tanks occurred at Checkpoint Charlie in October following a dispute over free movement of Allied personnel; the confrontation ended peacefully after Khrushchev and Kennedy agreed to withdraw the tanks and reduce tensions.